The historically acclaimed British poet, T.S. Eliot was famed for his verse, “April is the cruelest month” in his masterpiece, The Waste Land. For those supporting the pipedream Chris Christie for President campaign, June, not April will be remembered as the month when Christie’s presidential aspirations were irrevocably consigned to the ash heap of the history of presidential campaigns.

Two events in June spell “Finie La Comedie” to the Christie candidacy: 1) The June 16, 2023 New York Times article, “The Business of Being Chris Christie,” which revived the former governor’s severe ethics record political vulnerability ; and 2) The Bret Baier interview of Donald Trump which aired on Fox June 19 and thoroughly discredited Trump’s legal defenses and claims about his administration. It made superfluous Christie’s self-anointed role as the agent of Trump’s destruction. The irony is that the Fox Network, the former Temple of Trumpism, became the Temple of Trump Destruction.

It seems that most political journalists, while not enamored personally with Christie, find him to be “good copy.” Accordingly, they appear to engage in wishful thinking by finding hope for his candidacy in even the least positive development. An example is their highlighting Christie’s rise in the polls in New Hampshire from 1-2 percent to a higher single digit figure.

From the very beginning of the first rumblings of a Christie campaign, I opined that he had no realistic chance of capturing the nomination. As I put it, ” He (Christie) does not have a scintilla of a chance. “

This political impossibility had nothing to do with Christie’s low standing in the head-to-head horse race vis-a-vis the other prospective GOP 2024 presidential nominees. Rather, it is reflected in his stratospheric unfavorable ratings in all reputable polls, far worse than any other GOP candidate.

Christie’s massive unfavorable rating is attributable to three factors.

First is the loathing that GOP voters have for the former New Jersey governor as a result of his scathing attacks on Donald Trump. The Donald remains a beloved figure among the great mass of GOP voters, even those who feel that the GOP should opt for another candidate who could avoid the massive landslide 2024 general election defeat facing Trump.

The disaster facing the GOP with Trump as the presidential candidate is brought home by the latest CNN poll. Among all registered voters who are not aligned with the Republican Party, 85% say Trump should end his campaign now, and another 7% that he should end it if he is convicted.

This portends an absolute catastrophic defeat for Trump in the 2024 general election if he is the GOP presidential nominee, dooming to defeat also down ballot Republicans. After the prospective Georgia Fani Willis indictments and the Jack Smith January 6 indictments, even MAGA elected officials will seek an alternative to Trump in order to avoid their own destruction at the polls.

The alternative, however will not be Chris Christie. His massive GOP unfavorables, as reflected in the polls, make that an impossibility.

The second factor accounting for Christie’s high unfavorability ratings is that he has become a national object of ridicule since the Beachchair-gate story of 2017. In that now famed episode, an unsuspecting Christie was photographed from an airplane by a Star-Ledger photographer. Christie was lounging on a beach chair at the governor’s summer home when the rest of Island Beach State Park was closed to the public due to a budget crisis. He gave the appearance of a bovine Nero by the seashore.

Christie’s post Beachchair-gate status brings to mind the descriptions made of Austen Chamberlain, leader of the British Conservative Party in 1921-1922. He was the half-brother of the famed later British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. Of Austen Chamberlain, it was said he was respected, but never feared. Of Chris Christie, post Beachchair-gate, it can be said that he is neither respected nor feared.

The final factor in Christie unfavorables has been the negative perception of his ethics, which began with Bridgegate. The ethical perception of Christie was the one aspect of his unfavorables where there was room for improvement.

The above-mentioned June 16, 2023 New York Times article set forth in depth all his post-gubernatorial personal business relationships which have created an appearance of impropriety. Technically, these relationships do not necessarily violate any law statute or ethics code.

The problem is Christie’s propensity for desiring a lavish lifestyle and having others pay the bills. During his gubernatorial administration, that tendency put Christie in ethically questionable situations, taking benefits from those who stood to benefit from him.

Christie’s carefree attitude to such activity could be attributed to his own self-characterization during those years that he wanted to “squeeze all the juice out of the orange.” The New York Times column mentioned above described him in his post-gubernatorial life as trading on his political profile, even on his ties to Donald Trump himself. He is now figuratively gorging on barrels of oranges.

Such activity will not place Christie in any legal jeopardy. It does, however, violate the political ethical “smell test” – offending those standards of propriety that voters expect of their elected leaders.

The ultimate effect of the New York Times article is to make indelible the negative impressions voters have of Christie ethics. With that, there remains virtually no hope of a downturn in Christie’s unfavorables. Consequently, the Christie campaign remains hopeless.

Although I have consistently maintained the non-viability of the Christie presidential campaign, I did express in my May 31 InsiderNJ column the possibility that Chris Christie could have a decisive impact on the 2024 Republican presidential outcome by confronting Trump at the Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee on August 23, humiliating him, and discrediting him on the grounds that he is non-electable.

That possibility no longer exists. First, Trump has announced that he will not appear at the August 23 GOP Milwaukee debate.

Second, as stated above, in his interview of Trump, Bret Baier accomplished the task Christie wanted to fulfill, thoroughly exposing Trump’s lack of credibility, unelectability and lawlessness. Chris Christie is now superfluous to that effort. He no longer has any raison d’etre for his campaign.

The current status of the Chris Christie for President campaign can be best described in the same words the renowned American writer and litterateur Gertrude Stein used to describe her native Oakland, California: There is no there there.

Alan J. Steinberg served as regional administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush and as executive director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.